Method and device to aid basketball practice

ABSTRACT

An accessory to a basketball rebound board that could replace or be removably attached to the hoop attachment of the rebound board for the purpose of causing the basketball to return in the direction of the practicing player. The basketball passes through the hoop, or substitute for the hoop, and bounces against the inside wall of a frustum whose position and angle are such that the ball&#39;s rebound will return the ball in the general direction of the player who threw the ball. The apparatus is optionally partly or completely removable in such a way that the original hoop can be attached at will.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of sport and more specifically a way topractice basketball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Whereas all sports require constant practice to reach proficiency, thereare those that require a team or at least two people to practice thesport and there are those that can be practiced by the lone sportsman.Basketball is one of those sports where the player can practice throwingthe ball into the basket by himself. One of the disadvantages of suchlone play is the time wasted retrieving the ball after it has beenthrown into the basket and it drops down to the ground. This timewasting can also apply when more than one person is practicing.

There have been a number of previous attempts to assist the basketballplayer as he practices alone. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,954 issuedto Kerslaw which shows an attempt to return the ball to the player.Apart from technical difficulties involved with the apparatus it has apractical disadvantage that it requires special equipment to assembleand disassemble. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,074,313 and 6,595,877 issued toPearson uses a large netting that reaches to the ground, to catch andreturn the ball. Also the clumsy net interrupts normal play at areasnear the basket. U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,161 issued to Manix uses a panel toreturn the ball to the thrower. It has to be manually adjusted to changethe direction of the rebound.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,403 issued to Courtright also uses a re-bound panelwhich would make it ineffective to practice with more than one personunless they both threw from the same position. Moreover a practicingplayer who throws from an angle at the basket will not have the ballreturned to him. It will return to a different position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description present embodiments of the invention,and are intended to provide an overview, or framework, for understandingthe nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. Theaccompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding ofthe invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of thisspecification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description serve to explain theprinciples and operations of the invention.

The main object of this invention is, in a situation of practice andtraining, to cause the ball that has passed through the ring of abasketball hoop to return in the direction of the person who threw theball.

Another object of this invention is for the kinetic energy in thebasketball when it leaves the basket to be as close as possible to thekinetic energy when it enters the basket. This ensures that the ballwill return to the player at a high velocity which in turn will increasethe chances of it having enough energy to reach the player who threw theball, without him having to chase it.

Another object of this invention is to have a device that can be easilyassembled by a single person without special equipment and be likewiseremovable when a regular basket and net is needed for a regular game.

In another embodiment of this invention the apparatus of the inventioncould stay permanently on the basketball hoop without interfering with aregular game and could be brought into position when required fortraining purposes.

Another object of this invention is for the frustum to be made ofplastic, metal or other suitable material whether such material is solidor in web form.

Another object of this invention is for the length of the sloping sidesof the frustum and their angles to be adjustable. A wider angle could beused for longer range throwing and a narrower angle for nearer range.

Another object of this invention is for a fixed attachment to beattached to the hoop. This fixed attachment, that is part of theinvention, will enable both a net to be attached to it and the frustumto be attached to it, alternately.

This fixed attachment will enable a quick and easy switch between“normal basketball play” and “practice play” and vice versa.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain, by way of example only,the principles of the invention:

FIG. A is a schematic depiction of a conventional basketball hoop,backboard and stand.

FIG. B1 is a schematic depiction of a frustum of this invention.

FIG. B2 is a schematic depiction of the lower portion of a frustum insectional view.

FIG. C is a schematic depiction of a trajectory of a ball entering andleaving the frustum.

FIG. D is a schematic depiction of an optional removable attachmentassembly of the original hoop.

FIG. E is a schematic depiction of an optional removable attachmentassembly of the frustum.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be appreciated the present invention is capable of other anddifferent embodiments than those discussed above and described in moredetail below, and its several details are capable of modifications invarious aspects, all without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Accordingly, the drawings and description of the embodiments set forthbelow are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

FIG. A shows a basketball stand 50 with its hoop 52. The hoop 52 isusually a standard size having an inside diameter of around 450millimeters. The net 54 is designed to momentarily slow down the ballafter it has passed through the hoop. It serves another purpose and thatis to show visually and clearly to the players and/or referee that theball passed through the hoop and not to the side or in front of thehoop. The backboard 56 is fixed upright and solidly to the standstructure 50. Its main purpose is to allow the ball to rebound off itinto the hoop 52.

The net 54 is attached to the hoop. For the purposes of this inventionthe net 54 would need to be removable and re-attachable or otherwisekept out of the way when the frustum FIG. B1 100 of this device isattached to the hoop 54. This could be done in various ways. The net isusually removably attached to the hoop 52 on hooks, in such a way thatthe hooks do not interfere with the ball entering the hoop 52.

Alternatively, the net 54 could be pushed around to one side of the hoop52. In one embodiment of this invention, the hoop and net could beremoved and replaced using a pole and hook specially designed for thispurpose and the said frustum installed with the same pole. The reverseprocedure would re-install the regular hoop and net.

FIG. B1 shows a conical frustum 100. A frustum is a conical or pyramidalshaped body with its apical portion removed, so that its top plane isparallel to its bottom plane. The narrow opening of the frustum 102could have the same dimensions as a conventional basketball hoop. Thebasketball enters the top of the frustum 102 as it would the hoop, sothat the device of this invention provides a true simulation of the realgame. After the ball has entered the top ring of the frustum 102 itsflight path will in most cases bring it in contact with the inner sidewall of the frustum see FIG. C 154. If it drops in vertically it willnot hit the frustum.

The material of the frustum 100 would be firm and strong with arelatively high coefficient of elasticity and a relatively highcoefficient of friction. This will ensure the ball will hit the innerside of wall 106 and rebound therefrom with as close as possible to aperfect bounce. That is to say the ball will lose minimum energy as aresult of its impact with the wall 106 and its angle of incidence at thepoint of impact is as close as possible to the angle of reflection.There will be a measure of effect of gravitational pull and “slip”effect of the ball as it hits the inner wall 106 but this is minimizedas much as possible by the use of appropriate materials in the frustum.

The angle 108 of the wall 106 and the length of that wall are alsofactors in creating the best conditions for the ball to rebound out ofthe frustum and return with maximum kinetic and potential energy in thedirection of the thrower.

The said length and angles could be adjustable. The longer the wall 106and the narrower the angle, the more likely the ball will hit the otherinside wall of the frustum after it bounces off the first wall. Thesmaller the wall 106 and the wider the angle, the greater the chancethat the ball will pass through the frustum, missing the wall 106. Thelarger the angle 108 the greater the “slip” effect as the ball hits thewall 106 and the greater the chance that the ball will go through thefrustum without hitting the wall 106.

The surface properties of the ball will also affect the angle ofreflection of the ball.

There could be balls that enter the frustum 100 at such an angle thatthey move close to but parallel to the wall 106. To save this kind ofball from falling to the ground and bouncing in the opposite directionto the thrower, a ring 110 could be attached to the inside of the lowerbase of the frustum. This type of ball flight would cause the ball tohit the ring 110 and the ball's direction would be altered to thedirection of the thrower. An alternative to this ring 110 could be acurved lip FIG. B2 112 forming the bottom ridge of the frustum 100. Boththe ring FIG. B1 110 and the curved lip FIG. B2 112 are intended tobreak the clean geometric form of the frustum wall 106.

FIG. C shows the trajectory of a ball 148 as it comes towards thefrustum 100, enters, rebounds on its inside wall and returns in thedirection of the thrower. The ball will usually bounce at least once onthe ground before reaching the thrower. The angle of incidence 150 isshown here as being close to the angle of reflection 152 even though inreality the angle of incidence will probably be larger than the angle ofreflection, the reasons for which are described above.

FIG. D shows one optional method of removably attaching the basketballhoop or the frustum of this invention to the basketball backboard. Themetal rectangular sockets 202 could be permanently attached to thebackboard 200. The hoop and net 204 could have metal pins 206 to fitsnugly into the sockets 202. There would be a need for metal or similarsolid material to be used for the sockets and pins as the hoop has to befirmly attached to prevent any free movement that may affect the ball ifit hits the hoop 204.

FIG. E shows the removable apparatus 250 of the frustum attachment. Themetal pins 252 would be the same dimensions as those of the hoop and netFIG. D 206 as their purpose is the same namely to hold the device assolidly as possible in place during play but nevertheless be removable.There could be support rods 256 joining the base of the frustum 254 tothe framework to add stability, as the frustum would be heavier thannetting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method and device for practicing basketballcomprising; a) a frustum shaped device that is removably attached underthe hoop of a basketball rebound board whose smaller opening has itsinternal diameter, the internal diameter of the said hoop, and b) ameans to detachably attach the said frustum to the said hoop, whereby aplayer can throw a ball into a basketball hoop and the ball will returntowards his general direction.
 2. A method and device for practicingbasketball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frustum sides are made fromat least one of the following materials namely, metal, plastic and apolymer.
 3. A method and device for practicing basketball as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the said frustum has solid sides.
 4. A method and devicefor practicing basketball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said frustumhas sides made of a webbed material.
 5. A method and device forpracticing basketball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said frustumside lengths can be adjusted.
 6. A method and device for practicingbasketball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said frustum side anglescan be adjusted.
 7. A method and device for practicing basketball asclaimed in claim 1 further comprising a ring-shaped ridge attached tothe inside wall of the said frustum towards its lower end.
 8. A methodand device for practicing basketball as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising a curved lip attached to the base rim of the said frustum. 9.A method and device for practicing basketball comprising a frustumshaped device that is attached under the hoop of a basketball reboundboard whose smaller opening has its internal diameter, the internaldiameter of the said hoop, whereby a player can throw a ball into abasketball hoop and the ball will return towards his general direction.10. A method and device for practicing basketball as claimed in claim 9wherein the frustum sides are made from at least one of the followingmaterials namely, metal, plastic and a polymer.
 11. A method and devicefor practicing basketball as claimed in claim 9 wherein the said frustumhas solid sides.
 12. A method and device for practicing basketball asclaimed in claim 9 wherein the said frustum has sides made of a webbedmaterial.
 13. A method and device for practicing basketball as claimedin claim 9 wherein the said frustum side lengths can be adjusted.
 14. Amethod and device for practicing basketball as claimed in claim 9wherein the said frustum side angles can be adjusted.
 15. A method anddevice for practicing basketball as claimed in claim 9 furthercomprising a ring-shaped ridge attached to the inside wall of the saidfrustum towards its lower end.
 16. A method and device for practicingbasketball as claimed in claim 9 wherein the said frustum is removablyattached to the said hoop.
 17. A method and device for practicingbasketball as claimed in claim 16 whereby the said removing andattaching is capable of being effected by one person.
 18. A method anddevice for practicing basketball as claimed in claim 9 furthercomprising a curved lip attached to the base rim of the said frustum.19. A method and device for practicing basketball comprising, a) anattachment to a basketball hoop, b) a removably attachable hoop net, c)a removably attachable frustum, and d) a means for attaching the saidnet and said frustum to the said attachment, whereby the said net andthe said frustum can be alternately attached to the said attachment.